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Does your auto insurance cover your rental car?

You booked your vacation, planned your itinerary, shopped for clothes and are ready to pack and go. You realize uh-oh we are renting a car…do we have coverage or will it be an unexpected expense to insure the rental? The first step is to contact your insurance agent and discuss your coverages to make sure you have adequate coverage to extend to the rental car. In most cases if you carry comprehensive and liability coverage on your personal car the coverage will extend to the rental car as well. If you are paying for the rental car with a credit card, check with the credit card company to see if they provide secondary coverage in the event there are any gaps in your insurance policy.
The rental company will offer you four main options that in many cases you simply don’t need. Collision Damage Waiver/Loss Damage Waiver is not actually an insurance product but a waiver that transfers the financial responsibility from you to the rental car company if there is damage or theft. If you carry liability coverage on your own vehicle, this is coverage you can decline. Personal effects coverage if you have a homeowners or renters policy your personal items will generally be covered even if they are stolen from the rental car. Personal accident insurance will cover your medical bills in the event of an accident in the rental car. If you have personal injury protection on your auto policy you can decline this coverage. Knowing before you go to the rental car agency what your current auto insurance policy offers, you will save time and grief worrying or deciding what additional insurance you may or may not need.  Be sure to have your current identification card for your vehicle or a picture of it with you when you are ready for the rental car to save time of having to have one faxed over or frantically trying to look it up on the internet. The rental agency will need your policy number and dates of coverage for their records.

car rental agreement